Budapest Offensive

The Budapest Offensive (29 October 1944-13 Feburary 1945) was an offensive launced by the 2nd Ukrainian Front and the 3rd Ukrainian Front against the Hungarian capital of Budapest in the winter of 1944-1945. The Red Army overextended itself as it pushed into southeast Hungary against more resolute opposition than it had encountered in Romania, reaching Debrecen, 70 miles from Budapest, on 8 October. Army Group South, consisting of two German panzer armies, two German armies, and three Hungarian armies, prepared to defend Hungary to the last bullet. The 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts came under attack from two German panzer divisions at the Battle of Debrecen in October 1944, and the two fronts defeated the Axis forces before making further attempts in November and December 1944 to advance to Budapest. It was not until 26 December 1945 that the Soviets succeeded in encircling Budapest, and the four German and two Hungarian divisions in the city were ordered to hold out until relieved (by forces that never came). The Hungarian First Army was all but destroyed in January 1945 as the Soviet 40th Army advanced, and the Soviet offensive in Hungary succeeded in capturing Budapest on 13 February 1945, bringing an end to the battle for Hungary as the Soviets prepared for their Vienna Offensive.